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There are movies, and then there are movies. Take Fast Five for example. The trailer pretty much tells the story. There will be cars, girls in few clothes, explosions, and terrible dialogue. And then there are movies. Movies that inspire, movies that move someone to action, movies that you cannot get out your mind.

A Man for All Seasons fits the later category.

A Man for All Seasons takes place in the early 16th century. It centers on Thomas More and his opinion of Henry VIII’s divorce. More (played by Paul Scofield) is “quick-minded, urbane, meticulous, cheerful, admirable, and humorous.” Most importantly he is a man of conviction; a man who knows exactly who he is. More’s performance is inspiring and I kept thinking that they need to remake this movie, but I doubt that any could top Scofield’s performance so maybe it is best to leave it as it is. I encourage you to watch it.

Below is the trial scene at the end of the movie. To watch this before the movie would ruin it. But for those who have already seen it, it serves as a good reminder.

Last night Hannah and I celebrated the start of my spring reading days by watching the movie Get Low. I do not want to provide a full review of the movie or spoil the plot but only make a couple of comments. The movie was unlike any other movie I have seen. Not much happened in the movie (some might think it was boringly slow) but it was carried along by a curiosity and the remarkable acting.

What was remarkable about the movie was that the theme of guilt held the movie together. Guilt seems to be a lost feeling in this culture and to have a movie all about guilt would probably have not made it to the big screens without Bill Murray and Robert Duvall.

The movie left me sorry for those who do not know where to place their guilt. It would be a great movie to watch with non-Christian friends and then talk about how Christ has taken all of our guilt and we are now free in him.

1. Inception: A Block-Buster with Brains. The story keeps getting better as the movie progresses. Many times movies like this with twists end up disappointing, but at every turn, at every dream, this one raised the bar. The acting was good (not great) and the directing was superb. The score is wonderfully put together by Hans Zimmer. As you will notice, every great movie has a great score/soundtrack. A sub-par soundtrack always makes for a sub-par movie.

2. The Social Network: This movie will be remembered long after people forget about Inception. I thought about putting it as number one, but I had too much fun in Inception. It is “our” generations movie. But this movie is more about the characters, specifically Mark Zuckerburg wanting to be liked. Facebook is the backdrop. What made this movie so great was that it was not made to appeal to 15 year olds who like Vin Diesel. Witty dialogue and the cuts switching between trial scenes kept this movie going. The acting was surprisingly good, and the director made something fun and engaging, out of seemingly nothing.

3. The King’s Speech: Superb acting by Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Geoffrey Rush. It is rare to see a movie about a leaders weakness.

4. Shutter Island: Most will find this one as a surprise. It has some horror elements, but not a horror movie by any means. However, this movie had me thinking about it for at least a week after-wards. This movie did not get as much credit as it should have.

5. 127 Hours: I almost passed out when he cut off his arm, but the part I was feeling well I enjoyed greatly. It reminded me of Into the Wild where a loner finally realizes that community is what he lives for.

6. True Grit: Ross Douthat got this one wrong. Jeff Bridges does a superb job, although Mattie Ross (the 13 year old girl) gives him a run for his money. The story was not great, the acting carried the movie.

7. Toy Story 3: Another great Toy Story, but at the end I thought I am tired of Toy Story. If they do another one it will jump shark. My view is also skewed on this movie because the sound was off tune in the theater. When it got emotional, I kept laughing because it sounded like a violin out of tune.

Movies I did not see but got good reviews: Black Swan/Restrepo/Winter’s Bone/Carlos